


A New Life

by TheRogueLibrarian



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: ...slow updates, Abusive Dursley Family, Evil Flowers (in Harry's opinion), Harry identifies as a snake!, Other, Slightly!Cracky, Snake Magic, snake!harry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-05-31 01:47:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15109271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRogueLibrarian/pseuds/TheRogueLibrarian
Summary: One day when his uncle threatens to whip him Harry turns into a snake! Slither along with him as he enters Hogwarts, as a pet, and becomes so much more than a boy or animal could ever be. DON'T GET INVESTED! NOT A MAJOR FIC!!!





	A New Life

_17 th of July 1991_

 

Harry bent down low to the ground, ignoring his own stinging pain, as he pruned the flowers. He _hated_ flowers. They cut him. It was almost like they did it on purpose. It was dark that day, cold too, and he was out in nothing but a thin shirt that had been gifted down from his cousin, it was big enough to be a dress. Surely it was going to rain soon, if the storm clouds were anything to go by. Harry liked the rain. If it was heavy enough he could open his mouth and let it fill with water. That didn't happen often. Mostly when it rained his aunt found out and pulled him inside.

 

It wasn't because she liked him, at all, or cared for his safety. Really she couldn't care less if he got pneumonia. But she knew he liked the rain, so she brought him inside, just to spite him. Just because she couldn't bare him having anything to like in his life. His petty aunt couldn't bare it if he had even a slither of happiness.

 

But today might be different, he thought to himself. His aunt (he never called her by her first name because she never called him by his, only 'boy' or 'freak') had gone shopping for the week's groceries. She normally made Harry go shopping but then she found out he liked it. Really. It was as if she were obsessed with making him miserable. Harry had liked it because it meant he got to go out of the house, stretch his legs, without having to endure the circus show that was school. He mused that perhaps his aunt doing the shopping was a good thing, less manual labour and a way to conserve more energy.

 

Harry didn't mind school, except that he had to pretend to be stupid so as not to upset his relatives. The teachers all thought he was a delinquent and Dudley's 'gang' (if you could call it such a thing) constantly searched for him. It was really the only exercise that Dudley ever got, (Harry called him Dudley because Dudley actually had the courtesy to call him 'Harry', even if he mostly sneered the word) chasing after him in the hopes that he could beat Harry up, and sometimes Harry would come out of his hiding spot just so he could make him run.

 

Seeing the exertion on Dudley's face as he chased him served as a sort of twisted payback for all the times he hurt Harry.

 

Harry was a fast runner. Dudley could never catch him, and even if on the _very_ odd day that they did he was no longer afraid of their beatings. Sure. It _hurt_ , but he was used to that type of pain. And all of them were a bit squeamish so they didn't let it go on for very long. Only a few kicks. Really a lot of the boys almost seemed to _pity_ him, and felt _guilty_. Almost. Not guilty enough to stop. They still beat him up.

 

Harry had decided to give up on fear a long time ago. He wasn't entirely sure when, but he remembered it had been a few years since he had allowed himself to indulge in it. He mostly wasn't afraid because it was the same thing over and over again. His aunt would scream. His uncle would lock him in his cupboard. His cousin would beat him up, although he seemed to be slightly bored of it, almost as much as Harry.

 

It was always the same thing. And it wasn't _that_ bad. His life was pretty terrible, he could acknowledge that, but it could be worse. Sure. He was a bit hungry. Sure. They locked him in a cupboard. Sure. A _normal_ school experience wasn't filled with running away from violent bullies. But. His uncle never hit him. His aunt never molested him. He got to eat... most of the time. And he got to go outside, even if it was to garden, which infuriated him to no end.

 

And yes. He _knew_ that playing down his situation was _probably_ not a healthy response.

 

But it was the only way he could cope. It was easier to just become desensitised to his own life, and drift aimlessly through it.

 

Harry snapped, sorta, out of his thoughts when he heard the slam of the car door. Oh great. His uncle was home. He didn't dare turn away from his gardening out of a strong sense of self preservation, as he could almost _feel_ his uncle's rage. Harry carefully continued, making sure to keep his hair in front of his eyes as not to spur any unnecessary anger. They didn't like his eyes for some reason “green is just unnatural”. He kept weeding as he realised that his uncle had _yet to enter the house_. A bad feeling was rising in his chest. Was his uncle _watching_ him? Not that he was afraid of this, it was just a little unsettling. What did he want? Still no footsteps. No door slam.

 

He was still there.

 

Harry's breath was starting to quicken. He wasn't used to this. This didn't follow the pattern. What did he _want_? Harry didn't fear it when he knew what _it_ was but his uncle had never just _stared_ at him...

 

He looked up.

 

And boy was that a bad idea.

 

His uncle was red in the face, huffing like the wolf from the Three Little Pigs. Steam was coming in messy chunks out his ears. And his nostrils were flaring like a rhino's. Do rhinos even _have_ nostrils? Harry didn't know. The main thing he knew was his uncle looked like a _wild animal_ and was _staring at him for some unfathomable reason_.

 

Crap! He was walking towards him. Ah! No no no. What was he meant to do? This never happened.

 

“BOY!”

 

Okay. That had happened before. Harry had been shouted at. Maybe he could deal with this. He was just being shouted at _outside_. It wasn't too different.

 

His breathing calmed.

 

“For _too long_ we have _let it go_! We have fed you! Given you shelter! And you have repaid us with _nothing but your freakishness_. You are nothing but a _burden_ in this family and I will _teach you your place_!”

 

Harry gulped.

 

What did _that_ mean?

 

His uncle walked menacingly towards him and whispered harshly,

 

“I have been too lenient with you, freak. But now you have got me FIRED and I will _take it no more_. Petunia may not like it but you _will_ be punished _properly_.”

 

Then his whisper became even softer and _more_ menacing, if such a thing was possible.

 

“With. My. _Belt_.”

 

Harry froze.

 

No.

 

No.

 

No!

 

He was starting to panic. Breath coming quickly. Heart thudding a million times a minute in his chest. His blood went cold and his lungs froze. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe. This was not happening. His life wasn't like this. He wasn't like this. Harry for once in three years was _scared_.

 

Petrified.

 

_His belt._

 

_His belt._

 

_His belt._

 

The words echoed in his head like taunts. NO. They wouldn't. He wouldn't. Harry felt like he was on the verge of tears. His relatives they... they didn't like him. They called him a freak and a burden. They dreaded his existence as much as he did theirs. But he didn't think they would... Harry had always found solace in the fact that his aunt and uncle didn't hate him _enough_ to hurt him like that. Harry had always found hope in this because even if they locked him away, starved him, and taunted him, it meant that they still saw him as _someone_ who was a child. Who shouldn't be hurt. Who was... family in a way.

 

And he knew, oh he always knew, that they didn't _like_ him. But deep in his heart was the thought that maybe, just maybe, they _could_ like him. Harry _could_ be good enough for them. But he knew all the same that _they_ were the wrong ones. That _he_ was just a boy and they should have treated him right. But even so, deep down, he had always thought it had been _him_ that he had somehow made them dislike him, and that _somehow_ it had been his fault.

 

But they had never hurt him _like that_ and to Harry that meant there had been hope.

 

That hope was gone.

 

Harry stood still, paralysed in fear and despair. His uncle simply smiled cruelly at him and spat,

 

“Come inside now, boy, and I will show you what you are worth.”

 

Those words echoed too. Like _they_ could hold a candle to _him_. Harry wasn't arrogant. He could have never become arrogant when he heard all their names and insults on a daily basis. But he knew that they were the wrong ones. The cruel ones. The ones that had made him cry before he gave up crying. And to think that _his uncle_ thought he could _show him his worth_ with a _whipping_?

 

Whipping young children was not normal.

 

Harry knew this.

 

And with all his fear and anger he pulled it inside himself, making him feel helpless. Making him feel trapped. Making him feel scared of his own skin. Making him feel so so very petrified that even when his uncle continued to shout he still could not move.

 

And when the oaf of a man pulled out a hand to drag him inside Harry felt defensive.

 

So he exploded.

 

And a wave of some sort of foreign energy leapt out him. In his mind the same words chanted over and over and over again _I want to be free_. And as this shock wave rung out along the garden of Privet Drive Harry felt a burning jumping on the outside of his body, as if his skin was on fire. He felt his bones shifting inside him, and his arms and legs being crushed under a building. It felt like someone was poking white hot needles in his skin, and twisting his torso like the head of an owl. Harry clamped his eyes shut and yelped out in pain as his whole body reshaped.

 

After a few moments the pain was gone and he had the _weirdest_ feeling of his own body. He felt like shackles that had been tied to his heart were lifted from him. Harry felt like some sort of energy that had been tied to his very soul was now gone. He felt that a weight that had always weighed, always made people laugh at him when he asked for help, trapped him in Privet Drive, followed him like a falcon, was finally gone.

 

Harry warily opened an eye to see his uncle's shoe right in front of his face. And his uncle was _passed out on the ground_. Whereas he...

 

Harry tried to get up and found he could lift his head but he was... He was missing arms and legs! And his body was on the ground like a worm! And he could see better than he ever could. But Harry felt smaller and different and... He tried to run. But he couldn't. Because he didn't have any legs. So inside he slithered which was _weird_ and somehow felt _very_ natural.

 

Harry lowered his head back down to the ground, still worried about _what the hell was happening_ and raced, as much as he could race, off the lawn. Even if his uncle was still unconscious, Harry didn't know how long it would last, he didn't want to be there when he woke up. Without turning around he slithered as fast as he could down the cold pebbled road. He didn't exactly know _where_ he was going, he just knew he had to _get out of there before his uncle woke up_.

 

Harry slithered towards the local park, a place he had never been, and was _very_ aware that his eye level was _ground level_. He was suddenly short! Really short! And... some sort of creature. Some animal. Perhaps a snake? That would make sense. He had no arms or legs, was slithering on the ground and he _felt_ generally snake like.

 

But. What he couldn't understand. Is _how_ he had turned into a snake. Just _what_? People don't just _turn into snakes_. Although. Perhaps this does make _some_ sense. Harry _had_ talked to a snake a few days ago, on Dudley's birthday. Maybe it was destiny that he become a snake. And it probably wasn't all bad. No one could ever find him, that was good. And his uncle certainly couldn't _belt him_.

 

Really it was a good thing. Being a snake. Best not to look a gift horse in the mouth. Harry could live like this. And he had never _been_ a snake before, so who was _he_ to judge it. Maybe he could even make some friends. His relatives certainly couldn't spread lies to _snakes_! And Harry didn't even need to tell the snakes his real name... just in case. Not that he was _paranoid_ but... Okay. Yes. He _was_ paranoid.

 

But he _had_ just turned into a snake, so perhaps it was understandable.

 

Harry should just accept his life as a snake. It would probably be a better life than being his relatives' slave. There probably weren't _many_ dangers for snakes. What even _ate snakes_? Actually. What did _snakes_ eat? Alive things? Mice? And how often did Harry have to eat? Would he feel _hungry_? Did snake _feel_ hunger? Did they feel pain? Harry hadn't had much time to speak to the Boa Constrictor so he really didn't know.

 

He would need to find another snake. A guide snake of some sort. To tell him how to be a snake. Would Harry be smarter compared to most snakes? The Boa had seemed pretty intelligent but were all snakes like that? And would Harry be treated as their enemy? There was only one way to find out.

 

Harry soon reached the park, a little apprehensive of what to do, but determined none-the-less. Snakes were sure to live in parks. They were _snakes_. He quickly looked around to check that there weren't any humans lurking about that might try to kill him, goodness knows that his aunt would have attacked him if she had seen him as a snake.

 

Harry saw no people in the park so he slithered over to the bushes closest to the edge of the park and hissed,

 

**'Are any other snakes here?'**

 

Harry didn't hear anything for a while, and was about to leave when he heard a very soft hiss,

 

**'Who are you? I've never seen you before. Why are you at my bushes?'**

 

Harry replied, a little hesitantly,

 

**'My name is... Hairy. Want to be friends?'**

 

For some reason 'Harry' sounded like 'Hairy' when he said it in snake hissing. The other snake, who Harry still couldn't see, seemed a little shocked and replied,

 

**'I am not your breed and you are not old enough to mate. Why are you here?'**

 

Harry was a little taken aback. Mate? Mate?! What did _that_ mean? No. He _did not_ want to know. Ew. Snake mating. That was a weird thought. Harry replied hesitantly,

 

**'I'm really new at being a snake. Can you teach me?'**

 

At this a small yellow tip of a scaled snake's head dipped out from the bushes. Harry could somehow sense the mistrust of this snake, its beady eyes narrowed at him. It replied,

 

**'You are a hatchling. Where is your nest mother? She should be caring for you, you are no where near ready to have left the nest.'**

 

Harry knew he was a child but that just sounded insulting. Were all snakes this rude? And Harry felt slightly downcast at the mention of his mother, a silly woman who had tainted his blood with her freakishness, as his aunt often said. He still wasn't sure if he believed her.

 

**'My... nest mother died when I was just a babe. I have lived with her nest mate until now but she kicked me out and I don't know what to do.'**

 

The yellow snake analysed him yet again, still thinking he was some kind of threat, and said,

 

**'It was good of her to take you in. Not many snakes would take in another's hatchlings, most would kill their own weak, but you seem strong, and perhaps they were close nest mates. Hairy, dear hatchling, my nest is full and you are not of my breed. I cannot help you. You are too large for my nest anyway. If your surrogate nest mother has kicked you out it is probably because you are ready. Good luck, young hatchling, this world can be cruel.'**

 

Harry dipped his head slightly in sadness, but replied,

 

**'Thank you for speaking to me. I will try to find my own way.'**

 

The yellow snake hissed to him soothingly for a moment before turning her head and slipping back into her own grasses.

 

Harry slithered away, feeling very lonely. He called out in a few other bushes but found no reply, settling to somehow discover this new world on his own.

 

He spent the rest of the afternoon in the park, noticing how he felt the cold a lot more and was more sleepy. Harry slithered up a tree, perched in its branches, and fell asleep easily. He dreamt of flying and flashes of light, but wrote it up to feeling overwhelmed at his new snakey situation.

 

_18 th of July 1991_

 

When Harry awoke it was the next day and he was ready to start his life as a snake. One thing, though, was that he didn't like the idea of staying near Privet Drive. Harry wanted to leave his old life behind and become a new person, or snake, and he had just the opportunity to do so. He could even give himself a new name or back story, recruit an army of snakes and set war against the... No. He wouldn't do that. Harry had a new life, he wasn't about to mess it up by becoming some sort of crazy snake lord. And Harry sincerely doubted that they would follow his commands anyway. He was a hatchling as well, as if they would follow the words of a hatchling.

 

That day Harry decided to continue on his journey. He needed to find a place with... warmth. Yes. That was instinctual. And a place to eat. Harry found himself thinking about alive prey. So that was instinctual as well. Maybe Harry could be someone's pet? No. He wouldn't be able to cope with that. Being someone's pet would remind him too much of being a slave, and he never wanted to return to that type of life. And it wasn't likely that anyone else could speak to snakes, so it would be a lonely existence.

 

Harry calmly slithered down from the tree, glad that the new day was sunnier than yesterday. Soaking up the heat as he travelled. He would continue travelling down the same road that had led him to the park.

 

_29 th of July 1991_

 

Harry had been travelling for over two weeks, and in that time had made it all the way to London. He was constantly on the move, weaving his way through the busy crowds in the shadows. Because apparently people were _very_ afraid of snakes. He finally found out what he looked like two days into his life as a snake, in the reflection of a shop window. He was a black snake with dots of blue on his back. His underside was a pale silver. And his eyes were still that flashing green. Harry was quite a small snake and looked to be the size of a long stick, about fifteen centimetres wide and a metre long. A good size for hiding. But, he was still a hatchling.

 

He had been in London for almost three days, and in that time had talked to more snakes. In his travels there he hadn't talked to any because they hadn't wanted to talk to him. Mostly they weren't intelligent enough to hold much conversation above **'get away from my nest'** and **'no, my babies'**. Snakes on average didn't seem very smart. There were a few who could hold a conversation, but they mostly spoke about how he was just a hatchling, and where was his nest mother. A few talked about their own travels, but Harry found out that snakes didn't really travel much.

 

The only interesting snake he had met had been a long albino snake, with pearly scales, and blue eyes, who had hissed to him a whole afternoon about some sort of magic world in London. Harry, of course, thought she was a bit balmy, but when she managed to change her size he started to believe that either there was such thing as magic or there was such thing as a magic snake. Willow, the snake's name, led him to London and also told him that small snakes needed to eat twice a week, whereas large snakes needed to eat once a fortnight. She said he was a small snake.

 

Willow taught him to hunt, how to inject his venom, and where to look for the best prey. She offered to become his mate in the future, as they were of the same breed and the females and males of the breed had different looks, and he said perhaps in the future. She then left and said that if 'Hairy' decided he wanted to mate that she would be in the same park, and that her travelling days were over.

 

Harry had decided to continue to introduce himself as Hairy, because he didn't think it was very likely that the snakes would reveal his identity to the Dursleys. And even if they could, which was a preposterous idea, they wouldn't know his last name. Harry didn't think snakes even had last names.

 

He also realised that as a cold blooded creature he would become sluggish and tired if he was too cold, and he needed to sleep more if that was the case. Apparently snakes absorbed sunlight or something like that. Harry thought that perhaps he didn't need to eat as much because of this, but he was no reptilian expert so he couldn't be sure.

 

That day Harry was hanging out in a park in London. A park a few streets away from where he had said goodbye to Willow, and he was contemplating what he wanted to do. Harry was a hatchling, but he was also eleven, which was a lot older than most snakes lived to. He thought that this meant that he would have a normal human sized life span, perhaps not, but it wouldn't change his plans. Harry wanted to find a place to settle down, a warm place, with lots of mice, and maybe when he was older return to Willow and become her mate. If she wasn't too old by then. She was a magical snake, so perhaps she lived longer than normal snakes as well.

 

He slithered down the tree and onto a large rock, which was quite warm from the sun, closed his eyes and went to sleep. The warmth seemed to travel into his very bones and he dreamt calmly, enjoying his new life as a snake tremendously. He wasn't very bored, because Harry was the type of boy who could amuse himself simply by thinking. He wasn't hungry, as he had eaten a nice juicy mouse yesterday. And he was safe. All three things that meant Harry's life was perfect.

 

After a few hours of basking in the sun and drifting in and out of sleep Harry heard a rustle in the bushes. His eyes flickered open and he moved away from the rock, looking to hide out in the bushes. Harry lifted his head to see a figure looking straight at him. A human. She was wearing a strange attire, shiny clothes, that looked like nothing Harry had ever seen. She was also brandishing some type of stick like a weapon.

 

Harry saw her as danger and reared back, showing his deadly fangs. His poison didn't kill, it only knocked people out. But it was still good enough to save him. He lifted his head menacingly and glared at her, shouting,

 

**'Now you go away! Get out of this park, human! I am a snake now and you don't scare me by pointing a stick at me!! Hmm? That's what I thought. You can't even talk to snakes. What do you want? Go away! I'll bite you, I will! I'm not afraid!'**

 

The woman looked at him warily and Harry prepared to strike her. He heard her say, just before he passed out,

 

“Now you _are_ a beauty. Doug will get a nice pocket for you. _Stupefy_.”

 

A flash of red light came towards him and before he could dodge it, the light hit him and he fell down into unconsciousness.

 

_30 th of July 1991_

 

Harry awoke, instantly aware that he was no longer in his park. Loud noises surrounded him of all different natures. Hoots. Yells. Meeps. Faint human words lost in the cacophony. And many many snakes all talking at the same time. He blearily opened his eyes and lifted his head to look around. Harry was in a glass cage, his body curled to fit. Two bowls were on the ground near him, one filled with water, another filled with dead meat.

 

Harry twisted his head to see a second snake in the cage, looking very curiously at him. He noticed it had the same coat as him, black on the outside, little blue dots, and silver on the underside. But its eyes were brown instead of green. Harry said,

 

**'Where am I?'**

 

The other snake answered, its face looking like some sort of frown,

 

**'Animal prison. My name is Fiore.'**

 

Harry nodded in greeting,

 

**'I'm Hairy. How long have you been here?'**

 

Fiore seemed saddened, as if he was reminiscing of a happier time only to realise that it was gone.

 

**'I have lived here since I was a hatchling. My nest mother was caught and killed by the wizards, and I was trapped here. Other animals have come and gone but I have stayed. Many snakes stay. I have only ever seen a few taken.'**

 

Harry stretched himself out only to have his tail hit the glass. He hissed in anger and curled it back to himself, leaning his head down by the water bowl and drinking slowly. He then turned back to Fiore who was watching him in even more curiosity. Harry said,

 

**'Why is the cage so small?'**

 

Fiore dipped his head slightly,

 

**'The wizards do not care for snake folk. They bunch us closely together with no warmth. Many snakes die from the treatment. If I was not magical I would die as well.'**

 

Harry nodded. It was good to meet one of his own breed, and gender (Willow always seemed very focused on being mates), as he wanted to learn more about his abilities. Fiore spoke again,

 

**'Hairy, you are different to most snakes I have come across. Many when they first see their prison panic, you seem calm.'**

 

Harry sighed wistfully,

 

**'I have been imprisoned before. I had only hoped that my freedom would last.'**

 

Fiore nodded in understanding and slid over to the meat bowl, eating all of it, and then returning to the other side of the glass, looking out at the chaos of the animal prison. Harry leaned his head down onto his tail, and curled up, trying to keep the little warmth he had. With the glass surrounding him on all sides he knew there to be no true escape. He could only hope that someone would want to buy a snake like him.

 

His birthday was tomorrow, perhaps it would be better than the ones he had had in the past.

 

_5 th of August 1991_

 

Harry counted the days in his animal prison, knowing each day only by the light fading in and out through the window at the far side of the shop. He spoke more with Fiore, for that was the only thing to do, and learnt more of his breed. Harry was a magical snake, his venom was a paralytic, and his only ability was to possess magic. Apparently Willow's ability to change size was rare for his breed, and when Harry tried he did not succeed. The magic ability was mainly used by wizards as a conduit. One where they siphoned off little amounts of their magic into him, and then he returned it all at once.

 

If a wizard or witch ever bought him Harry was determined that he would not do this for them.

 

Never would he be used again.

 

In his time in the animal prison he had eaten three times. That was because he absorbed no warmth, and as a cold blooded creature had no extra energy. Fiore explained it as something about the magic needing the sunlight, and Harry wasn't sure what to believe. Only once in his time there had a wizard stopped by the snakes. When he did so all the snakes jumped up and pleaded to be taken. The wizard, a brown haired man with cruel eyes, eventually took a small grass python.

 

The python looked too smug in Harry's opinion.

 

Now Harry was lazing by the edge of the glass, curled up tightly, and watching Fiore sleep. He often wondered if his life as a snake in captivity was better or worse than being a slave for the Dursleys. Sure. It wasn't as interesting and being cooped up twenty four hours a day was maddening, but he got to eat, he got to talk to another living being, and he wasn't injured. Honestly Harry was glad to have his new life as a snake, and was sure that sooner or later someone would buy him. He was starting to reconsider being a pet, as it probably would be better than being trapped in a glass cage.

 

Suddenly he heard frenzied hissing around him, and Harry curiously turned away from the still asleep Fiore to look at a young boy, about his age, who was looking at the snakes. He was pale and gangly looking, with kept brown hair and a very posh pose. He let his brown eyes survey the snakes who were all hissing at the same time, except Harry.

 

Harry slowly lifted his head to the edge of the grass and said,

 

**'Are you going to choose one?'**

 

As expected the boy did not react, as it wasn't a common gift, Harry found out, to be able to speak to snakes, and the boy couldn't. He felt the boy's eyes drift over him and a chill went down his back. Harry sighed and slithered back to his spot, keeping his eyes on the boy, and basically concluding that he would pick a different snake. The boy turned to the shop keeper, who was walking over, and they exchanged a few words. Then to Harry's absolute shock the boy pointed _at him_. At _Harry_.

 

Before he could do anything he felt himself being lifted out of the cage, by calloused hands. He swivelled his head to Fiore and shouted,

 

**'Fiore! I got picked!'**

 

The once asleep snake blearily lifted its head and hissed,

 

**'Good luck Hairy, let your hatchlings be plentiful.'**

 

And then Harry was gone, away from his glass cage, being held by the tentative arms of the shop keeper. He was a frail looking man with black hair dropping down to his shoulders who said,

 

“These snakes are normally quite vicious and ill tempered, even though their venom is not poisonous. Are you sure you want this one?”

 

The boy's voice was slightly less sure of itself as he said,

 

“Why, is there something wrong with it? It is a magical snake isn't it?”

 

The shopkeeper balefully nodded and said,

 

“But it is just a hatchling. The other snake is much stronger, and probably more magically adept.”

 

The boy shrugged,

 

“ _I_ am just a hatchling. It will grow with me.”

 

The shopkeeper nodded, slightly wary at any customer who bought one of his snakes. Harry felt himself be dropped down onto a flat surface. He cautiously lifted his head to stare at the two humans who were still chatting to one another. Harry watched as the boy dropped multiple gold coins into the shopkeeper's hands, the wizard currency as Fiore had told him, and say a few final words. Then the boy lifted him up onto his shoulders and said,

 

“Hi there little one. My name's Theo. What should I name you?”

 

Harry hissed, half hoping that this boy might just be able to understand him,

 

**'Hi Theo, my name is Hairy. Call me Hairy.'**

 

Harry felt Theo stroke his head. It was annoying, and Harry was uncomfortable as he had not been one to experience much affection in his life, but he let him. Theo replied,

 

“How about... Balthazar?”

 

Harry didn't react at all. Balthazar? BALTHAZAR? What? Why would anyone, especially a snake, want that name? It was just... weird. Harry wanted a cool name like Frost or Flame or Death Bringer or something. Something to strike fear into the hearts of other snakes. 'Death Bringer _attack_!' But _Balthazar_? Harry just couldn't imagine that.

 

Theo nodded.

 

Crap. His human thought he should be called _Balthazar_. Harry wasn't even sure why the name offended him so much, it just did. But, there wasn't much he could do now. Theo looked very pleased with himself.

 

His human walked out of the shop, whistling to himself, and looking generally at ease. Harry lifted his head and looked around from where he was, interested in what the wizarding world was like. There were many humans bustling about like bees, wearing all different types of clothes, and of all different ethnicities. There were some that looked like Theo, well kept, well dressed, and well mannered. But there were also others who looked... ordinary. Like normal people.

 

Excluding the fact that they were all carrying around magical sticks.

 

Harry turned back to the animal prison, feeling slightly guilty at abandoning Fiore, and saw the sign that said _Eeylops Owl Emporium_. Frankly Harry felt a little insulted. He wasn't an _owl_. Bother. But it was good to know where the place was, so that at some point he could track it down again, free all the animals, and _burn it to the ground_. Honestly, even though Harry was well fed they still were terrible at taking care of the snakes. Did they _want_ them to die?

 

Harry was shocked out of his thoughts as he heard Theo say,

 

“Now, Balthazar, we're going to take a portkey now and it might make you feel a little sick, so hold on tight.”

 

Harry was a little shocked at being addressed like a human. When he _knew_ he was a snake. Perhaps this boy was just lonely. Harry used to get so desperate that he would speak to the evil _flowers_ in his garden when he was especially lonely.

 

He felt a tug at his stomach and was soon pushed through a very thin tube. In that moment he wondered if snakes could _vomit_.

 

When he opened his eyes he saw that he was no longer in the shopping alley, but outside a some sort of mansion. Theo petted his head _soothingly?_ and whispered,

 

“Sorry Balthazar, but we're home now!”

 


End file.
